


Only In A Week

by the_smiley_cat



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A tiny bit of Ladynoir, Adrinette, F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, My first fic so be gentle please, adrienette - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-05-31 13:03:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6470962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_smiley_cat/pseuds/the_smiley_cat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been half a year since Ladybug and Chat Noir took Paris by storm and Marinette Dupain-Cheng met Adrien Agreste. During that time their friendship blossomed. However when Marinette's good luck pairs her with Adrien for a school project the two begin to notices and learn things about each other and theirselves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Monday Morning - The Beginning

Adrien sighed as the once gentle tapping of rain on the car window became more rapid. _Of course_ this would happen the day he forgot his umbrella. His luck had become much worse the past few days; he'd make small mistakes one after another: tripping over wires; getting caught sneaking cheese into his room; forgetting homework and now he'd forgotten his umbrella. Absent-mindedly he stroked the charm bracelet he'd elected to wear the past few days.

When the car pulled up to the front of Collège Françoise Dupont Adrien was hesitant to step out into the miserable and cold rain. The moment he did relinquish the protection of the warm car he was bombarded by the bullets of rain. Another sigh. He skimmed the surrounding area quickly, searching for the familiar red cap of his best friend but that turned out to be a bust. Only a few students he didn't recognise were lingering outside but they had all been smart enough to remember their umbrellas. Adrien stood still contemplating whether or not to wait outside to see if his friend would show or to make the _obviously_ smarter decision to go inside and check if his friend had already arrived; actually it made _more_ sense for him to wait in there and escape the downpour.

Yet another sigh. Adrien tilted his head up towards the heavens, running his fingers through his hair, just letting his entire being be embraced by the downpour in an attempt to wash away his stress. His tender eyes followed the dreary clouds. Well _they did_ until the view was replaced by a familiar black fabric. He looked down and there she was.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

The girl smiled up at him with compassion filled eyes, her arm outstretched holding the umbrella above his head allowing stray raindrops to fall onto her whilst her free hand clutched the purse at her hip; a gesture he'd realised she did when she was trying her best to be confident. The boy returned her smile as he took a step closer to her, closing the distance the umbrella would have to keep protected. He noticed the small blush on her cheeks and felt his own grow ever so slightly pink.

They stood in silence for a moment just appreciating the closeness the two had formed. At first their relationship had been rocky due to a misunderstanding, although quickly resolved they'd been faced with Marinette's lack of confidence and stumbling words. That hadn't deterred Adrien from pursuing the friendship and the more time they spent together - just the two of them - her confidence had grown, their friendship blossomed. Adrien's eyes fluttered back up to the umbrella. He reached for it with his left hand, taking it from her and positioning it in a more comfortable and convenient position for them both. He decided to break the serenity of the silence. "I can't believe you still use this thing," he chuckled, smiling at Marinette and the memory the umbrella held. Her eyes widened as she began to shift her weight from one foot to the other. The freckles dotted around her nose became just ever so slightly more obvious against her complexion. _Gosh_ did she look adorable standing there like that.

"Well... I can't believe you're actually wearing that," Marinette retorted, pointing at the charm bracelet that had once belonged to her. She smirked as his eyes widened. In truth Adrien had begun to wear it recently due to his increase in bad luck.

"What can I say?" his voice filled with confidence and a smirk now on his face, "It's my lucky charm."

Marinette did her best to keep it together. She managed an eye roll but not without her face almost completely flushing up as she began to fidget. She had grown accustomed to flirts and cheesy comments but only when they were spoken by a certain silly kitty she knew, not from the mouth of _Adrien Agreste_.

The boy in question was absolutely delighted by the effects of his words! His many fruitless attempts to woo his lady as Chat never ended with a response as great as this. So when he found that he - Adrien - could achieve this response from his classmate he'd been _overjoyed_. At first he couldn't understand why he'd reacted like this but eventually he'd come to the conclusion that it must be because it meant that she was accepting him. _All_ of him. Not only the perfect teenage model but the mischievous and cocky side he saved for Chat. It made him feel warm inside. Something he hadn't felt in what seemed like an eternity.

“A-anyway, we should head inside before you catch a cold,” Marinette mumbled fiddling with the strap of her purse, “You must be freezing you're shivering like a chihuahua!” She rested her hand on his arm, pushing him slightly towards the entrance of the school. It was only when he'd been told that Adrien realised how cold he actually was. She was right. He _was_ freezing. Yet somehow just by being with Marinette, he hadn't felt it. The loving warm presence she emanated had made him completely oblivious to numbness he'd been feeling before she'd arrived. So he let her guide him to their classroom.

Upon entering the room they found they weren't the only ones who were smart enough to seek shelter from the rain inside. Although surprisingly the duo's respective best friends were missing. Fearing he may have missed something important Adrien quickly got his phone out, checking for any messages as Marinette did the same. Adrien had received nothing and so quickly sent a message to Nino to make sure he knew not to wait outside. Marinette on the other hand had a very typical message from her best friend.

 

 **Alya:** Did I just see what I think I just saw? You were totally cuddling up to Adrien under that umbrella!! 

 **Marinette:** Alya!! It's not like that!! We're just friends >~<

 **Alya:** Uhuh sure. Look me and Nino are gonna give you guys some privacy this morning so make good use of it girlfriend ;)

 **Marinette:** OH MY GOSH ALYA NO STOP IT'S NOT LIKE THAT ;n; I just want to be his friend.. I wasted all that time being such a ditz around him and I want to make it up to him...

 **Alya:** Oh Marinette, you're way too good for anyone! But seriously, there's nothing wrong with trying to develop your friendship ;) Don't waste this opportunity, me and Nino will be there in 10 minutes.

 **Marinette:** (╯︵╰,)

 

“Any luck?” Adrien's voice shocked Marinette out of her furious typing. His gaze seemed so powerful yet mild. She shook her head in response, trying to wrap her head around Alya's antics and what excuse she'd give the boy.

“Alya and Nino met up and they uh, they decided to uh go get some food...?” Marinette spoke quietly, trying to phrase her words as a statement but frankly it came out more like a question. Adrien just nodded in response causing her to sigh in relief.

“Well uh, you wanna keep me company this morning?” he asked as he sat in his usual seat and then scratched the back of his head before patting the seat next to him. He stared up at her with what he hoped were pleading eyes. It took her a moment to register what he'd said and it left her standing awkwardly staring at him for a few seconds before she took the spot. She fidgeted for a moment until she finally settled down into the spot and turned to him.

“So, what did you do over the weekend Marinette?” Adrien tried to strike up a conversation as soon as he could see that she was comfortable.

“Oh erm, just the usual homework, helping out with the bakery, talking with a friend and uh designing I guess,” she replied, “How uh – what about you Adrien? Any spectacular photo shoots happen?” He laughed slightly at her comment, glad that even if she fumbled with her words she could still be witty.

“No nothing spectacular, most of them were borderline disastrous thanks to my dreadful luck,” he was over exaggerating slightly and his dramatic fall onto the desk was enough to gain a giggle from the girl next to him. “Tell me about your designs.” His intense green eyes shone as he gazed up at her and she gave him a relaxed smile in return.

Just being friends was definitely enough for now.

 

* * *

 

“Ugh, you are _so_ lucky Marinette I can't believe you get to hang out with the boy of your dreams,” Alya complained to her best friend in front of the college under the shelter of the main entrance. Their last class of the day - science – had just ended and they'd all been paired at random with someone to do a presentation relating to gravity that was due next week. Marinette's amazing luck had paired her with Adrien while Alya was paired with Nathanaël and Nino with Ivan.

“C'mon Alya, Nathanaël's a sweet guy,” Marinette tried to reason with her best friend. It could have been much worse, she could have been paired with Chloe. “I honestly don't see a problem here...”

“I know, I know, I just wish I got someone I was a little closer to is all,” Alya sighed.

“Marinette!” Adrien interrupted the conversation, happily bouncing up to the girl with Nino trailing behind. “I'm free all afternoon so if you're free could we uh go to your house and start the project?” he asked, eyes beaming wide at the thought of getting to spend more time with her and possibly stealing a look at the designs she spoke fondly of that morning. Marinette gazed at him for a moment, slightly stunned by the sudden request. Her look turned to Alya. They had talked about possibly going shopping...

“Oh just go and have fun,” Alya cried out, pushing the two in the direction of the bakery, “I'll just steal Nino and take him shopping with me instead!”

Adrien fumbled to open the umbrella he had stolen/reclaimed from Marinette that morning, rushing to make sure he didn't end up getting Marinette drenched like he had been that morning. Both Marinette and Adrien let out a small chuckle as they turned to see Alya literally dragging Nino, who barely had any time to open his own umbrella, away with her before crossing the street to the Boulangerie Patisserie. They entered through the front entrance giving Marinette's parents a brief greeting and explanation, deterring any less professional thoughts her parent's were having for the visit, before stealing a few pastries and making their way up to her room.

The bright pink hit Adrien as soon as he emerged from the trap door into Marinette's room. He'd only been in her room a couple of times before and one of those visits had been as Chat without her even knowing he'd stopped by. It was the same as ever. Although some pictures on the wall did catch his interest. “Are these... my model photos?” Adrien asked walking up the magazine clippings on the wall, “Wow Marinette, didn't know you were such a fan! Would you like my autograph while I'm here?”

“Oh uh, that's... my inspiration wall!” she exclaimed, “Hah yeah, more like a fan of you're father's work but uh it doesn't hurt to use his most handsome model.” Adrien's eyes widened at the comment as he scratched the back of his neck. Did Marinette just flirt with him? Oh wow this was turning out to be one of his best days in a long while! He turned to look at her as she began to clear out the stray projects from her desk, her cheeks slightly pink. “But I won't decline an opportunity to get a rare Adrien Agreste autograph, here,” she added sliding a black piece of paper across the desk to him, giving him a shy smile. He stared at her for moment before letting out a hearty laugh and reaching for the closest pen he could find and hastily scribbled down his name on the paper.

“You should totally frame it and hang it up with the photos,” Adrien laughed as Marinette hovered next to him. She flashed him a quick smirk and began rummaging around in one of her many draws. His mouth dropped when he saw her pull out an ornate silver frame. “Oh my god, pass it here!” he practically shouted as he made grabby motions towards the frame. She giggled as she passed the frame over to him and watched him happily set up the paper on the frame. He stopped for a moment, reaching for some blue tack to temporarily hold the frame up on the wall and then stood back to appreciate his work. Adrien gave the girl next to him a small nod and smile, pleased with his work and banter they were sharing, before settling down and declaring they should get to work.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy I'm actually doing this.  
> Just so it's clear everything in this has happened after season 1 which is why Marinette is confident with Adrien and likewise Adrien is very comfortable around Marinette (like how they were in Kung Food and Le Gamer).  
> Also if you have no clue about what's going on with the umbrella, don't worry about it you'll find out soon enough.  
> Sorry if this first chapter is kinda slow, it's mainly just to set everything up and I promise we're straight into the fluff with the next chapter :3c  
> Updates have no specific schedule and so will be very spontaneous and dependant on my motivation to write the next chapter.


	2. Tuesday Afternoon - The Fluff

For once Adrien couldn't wait for the school day to be over and for his work to start. He had managed to convince Nathalie (who was overseeing all his activities whilst Monsieur Agreste was away on business) to let Marinette join him during his shoot, claiming that they absolutely needed all the time that they could get to work on the school project. The boy had claimed the project was essential to his grade and he would ensure Marinette would not be a disturbance on the set. Eventually Nathalie had given in purely because she was sick of the boy's incessant begging. In reality he just wanted to give Marinette the chance to see him at work and get a sneak peek at his father's new collection after being allowed a cheeky glance at her own sketch book. Like he'd expected, she'd been completely stunned when he told her of the news that morning and slightly confused by his motives. During lunch she'd gone home and brought back as many sweets as she could to thank him and happily watched as he accepted them even though he declared he needed no thanks. Adrien just couldn't resist the lure of the Dupain-Cheng's fresh baked goods. When the car arrived he was the perfect gentleman, he graciously escorted her to the car and opened the door for her to climb in leaving Marinette quite flustered and embarrassed thanks to the looks they were earning from the other students. The best reaction by far was the one they got from their best friends. Alya stood in front of the school with Nino by her side, both of them had both thumbs held up and she looked ready to burst into tears of pride and joy. The car journey seemed to speed by so quickly with Adrien informing Marinette of the basic things she should be careful about on the set and then an onslaught of horrendous jokes to calm her when she began freaking out, worried she'd somehow ruin everything.

“Marinette I'm _paw_ -sitive you'll be _purr_ -fectly fine!” Adrien cooed with a Cheshire grin as he watched her roll her eyes.

“Adrien, you've got to be kitten me,” she stated, completely deadpan, “I'm having a crisis and you're trying to be punny!”

“ _Paw_ -lease, you're enjoy this just as much as me! Looks like you don't need as much _purr_ -suasion to be punny as I thought!” Marinette groaned. Her pun had been a slip of the tongue and now she'd gotten him started on an all out pun-run. Luckily for her they soon pulled up to the studio meaning Adrien had to put on his professional demeanour for the time being.

When they got to the set Marinette was surprised by how much smaller it was than she was expecting. She was sat in a corner at a spare table in the small room which was overflowing with various expensive looking equipment with cables strewn across the floor. She made a mental note to be very careful of where she stepped for when she moved. The girl sat in silence, fiddling with various sheets she pulled out from her backpack, trying her hardest not to draw attention to herself whilst Adrien was off being prepped and dressed. As soon as they'd arrived he'd been swept away by the stylists whilst she was dumped in the corner by Nathalie. It was about half an hour until Adrien finally returned in a simple white t-shirt with his father's logo embellished on the front revealed by a brushed cotton jet black hoodie hanging open with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. He wore matching dark blue denim jeans which were skin tight and ripped at the knees as well as electric green converse which really stood out against the colour scheme of the outfit. To finish the look his hair had been slightly tousled and left messy. Upon spotting Marinette the boy smiled sheepishly before making his way over to her and striking a pose. “So, how do I look?” he asked, pulling a pouty face and earning a chuckle from her.

“Like a wannabe bad boy who gives vague answers to try to be cool,” Marinette joked.

“Me-owch Marinette! Don't you know we bad boys have a sweet and sensitive side too?” he threw his hand over his heart and pretended to wipe the tears from his eyes before he was called over to begin the actual shoot. The two happily continued like this through the afternoon throwing teasing insults at each other whilst actually getting on with the work they promised Nathalie they'd do to not rile up too much suspicion. She even got to eat fancy tuna prepared for Adrien whilst he was on a break. For Marinette it was like a dream come true. Not only was she getting to see her favourite designers new clothes up close and personal but they were being modelled by the her long time crush and she was sharing banter with him! The day couldn't get any better!

But of course, immediately it did.

The final shoot of the day was meant to be an outdoor study date but Adrien's partner hadn't shown up, demanding a raise and refusing to work until she got one. The staff didn't have time to deal with the drama and were searching for a replacement as quickly as they could until Adrien looked back at Marinette with a huge grin on his face. “Adrien why are you looking at me like that?” she demanded, immediately tensing up and going wide-eyed at what he was suggesting.

“My friend Marinette can fill in for her!” he shouted aloud, pointing at the girl huddled in the corner with her hands covering her face. The photographer looked back and forth between the two trying to visualise how well the two would match. Eventually he gave a nod and Marinette was forced from her seat into another room to undergo a new type of transformation for her. When she came back out a while later Adrien's mouth dropped to the floor as he gaped at her as she joined him on the set in a much bigger room; the backdrop had been set to a typical outdoor area with trees and bushes against a summer blue sky with a wooden bench and simple round table with two metal chairs on both sides. Marinette had been dressed in a cute white apron dress that hung above her knees with little pink blossoms dotted up the left side of the skirt with modest white ballerina flats to match. Her raven hair fell sweetly down her to her shoulders in little waves topped by a straw sun hat decorated with more pink blossoms and a pink ribbon. To finish the ensemble off was a delicate wire flower necklace with five petals coming out of a lavender pink jewel.

“So... how do I look?” Marinette asked shyly, giving him a small twirl which allowed the skirt to float gracefully for a moment. Adrien kept his eyes on her for what seemed like an eternity for her, trying to find the words which would capture and convey his true thoughts.

“You...” he stumbled with his words before taking a deep breath and smiled, looking adoringly into her eyes, “I honestly didn't realise you could look any more beautiful than you already do but here we are.” The comment instantly made her face flush as she hid behind the hat, tugging at it to cover her eyes and she shuffled in place. She barely managed to jokingly punch his arm and earn that sweet laugh from him that she heard on only the rarest of occasions. He took a hold of one of her hands and began stroking it affectionately with his thumb as she peeked at him from underneath the rim of her hat.

_Click!_

The girl immediately jumped back at the sound. She looked around at all the stunned faces in the room having completely forgot where she was or what she was even doing at the moment. When she turned back to Adrien he was hiding behind his free hand but the pink in his cheek managed to shine out through his fingers. He took another deep breath. The photographer gave him a quick nod and told him to lead the shoot, doing whatever he thought best. Adrien smiled gently at him before turning back to Marinette. She glanced at his outfit which seemed much less significant than hers. It was still a Gabriel Agreste original piece but it was definitely not a new one. A classic white button-up shirt with the top button left open and the sleeves folded up past his elbows whilst a light grey waist coat hung open over the top. His trousers were skinny and ever so slightly darker than the waist coat along with raven black high tops plus a light grey trilby hat to finish off the outfit. Then it hit her. She was the centrepiece for the shoot.

Marinette shot Adrien a panicked look but his smile only deepened and he put a little more pressure on the hand he was still holding.  _Trust me_ the gesture said. He saw her reply with her eyes. She gave him a kind look that could only mean  _Of course I trust you_. The boy led her to the table, pulling out the chair on the right and signalled for her to sit with his hand to flaunt the beautiful pattern of her dress and details of her hat better to the camera and she graciously took the seat, channelling all of her experiences as Ladybug to make sure she kept that grace. Another click. They carried on like this throughout the shoot. Adrien took charge, leading Marinette's actions and guiding her as they went through their 'date' with the clicking of the camera playing in the background when the photographer saw an opportune moment. He managed to get some excellent shots whilst they managed to actually progress in their project which they used as a prop. It was getting quite late when the photographer suddenly had a brilliant idea. " _Ma fille_ why don't you take the lead for this next part?" he said with grin. Marinette was abruptly bolted out of her trance the 'date' had put her in. She looked over at Adrien for guidance who shrugged and just kept smiling at her. "Don't worry too much, just do whatever you want," the photographer cut in. What she wanted was to show off the dress a bit more. It had gotten boring with her just sitting about trying to look pretty.  Not to mention that so far there had been plenty of studying and not enough dating.

No one was really expecting her to swiftly get on her feet and drag Adrien off his chair by pulling him by his hands, her mind began lingering on her actions.  _Oh gosh I'm holding his hands oh jeez don't panic Marinette you got this OH NO HE'S GIVING ME A CUTE LOOK!_  She desperately tried to push the thoughts aside and just focus on what she wanted to do like the photographer instructed. So she began to swing their arms and spin them in a circle, allowing the dress to be caught in air and flow delicately around her. Adrien caught on pretty quickly and began to chuckle as he twirled her on the spot and began to dance along with her, the clicks of the camera barely registering in their minds any more. As they danced more and more he began to get increasingly daring; he would lift her up into the air and spin her causing an adorable giggle to fill the room. When his confidence reached its peak he straight up dipped her and caught off guard she'd had to clutch to his chest. Neither of them broke eye contact as he brought her back up, keeping her close to him, arms wrapped around her waist. A playful smile broke out onto his lips as at the same time a whimsical smile broke out onto hers.

In that moment all Marinette could hear was the drumming of her heart in her ears as her grip on Adrien's shirt loosened somewhat before tugging on it gently to pull herself up to him. She raised herself even further by perching on the tip of her toes. More than happy to meet the distance Adrien began gradually lowering his head to hers and moved one of is hands up her back to try to bring her closer. His eyes fluttered closed as did hers. Every moment they took inching closer the drumming of her heart was replaced by a familiar tune. Their lips were so close to touching she could feel his warm breath tingling her skin and the ghost of his lips when the sound finally got to her and she shot back pushing away from Adrien and jerking her eyes to the closest clock she could find.

"M-my phone, my parents!" she muttered out, lunging for her clutch which had been placed to the side. Her phone cut out before she answered and she turned back to the crew who were merely staring at her, all of them slightly disappointed that the events hadn't completely played out. "I need to get home! I promised that- I promised them I'd be back before nine!" she began stuttering frantically, looking to Nathalie to allow her to leave. The assistant merely nodded and Marinette sped away to the dressing room as quickly as she could leaving Adrien stunned. He vaguely heard the photographer make a comment about how he at least managed to get a glorious shot just at the last minute. In his mind he made a note to ask for copies of the photos as soon as he could before dragging himself to another changing room upon Nathalie's orders and they all began wrapping everything up. 

To say that the drive back to Marinette's house was awkward would be an understatement. The two teens sat uncomfortably in the back, self-conscious of every move they were making, staring out of their windows to avoid all eye contact. Adrien tried a million times to apologise for causing her parent's to worry but she wouldn't allow it, stuttering how it was her fault for not paying more attention. When they finally pulled up in front of the bakery Marinette and Adrien exchanged hasty good byes and promises to see each other in class. He watched her silently as she left the car and Nathalie joined her to apologise to her parents who were waiting in front of the shop. With the formalities over and Nathalie back in her seat Adrien gave a timid wave to Marinette as the car pulled him away from her. As soon as he got home he bounded up the stairs and into his room, quickly calling Nino to tell his best friend all about what had happened and what had almost happened. Likewise, Marinette did the same with Alya as soon as she was in the comfort of her bed. 

That night it was impossible for either of the two teens to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ≖‿≖  
> Was that a little too cheesy? Especially that line about Marinette being beautiful?  
> Ma fille means 'my girl' here (I think it can also be used for daughter but my french is rusty).  
> But yeah, I told you it was gonna get fluffier straight away and there's more where that came from.  
> Feel free to send me encouraging asks on tumblr (@the-smiley-cat) to make me get my ass in gear and continue writing because honestly I get very easily distracted a lot and I tend to have a lot of projects going on at once.  
> Also I saw all of your wonderful comments on the first chapter and thank you so so much!! I'm sorry I would reply to them but I'm so awkward when it comes to replying and I feel like I'm just awkwardly repeating myself to people but thank you all, I really appreciate your kind words ≧◡≦


	3. Wednesday Lunch - The Gentle Nudges

“Mama! Papa! I'm home and I brought friends!” Marinette called out as she, Adrien, Alya and Nino all stepped into the bakery. “You won't believe it! The school's boilers broke down so we've all been sent home for the day,” she explained giving her parents a big hug.

“Hope its alright if we stay here and chill for a bit,” Nino chimed in to the conversation, “it's been a while since all four of us hung out.”

“Yeah _someone's_ been stealing Marinette all for himself,” Alya scoffed, gesturing at Adrien with a small nod of her head.

“ _Anyway_ , we're going to play games upstairs so we won't disturb business,” Marinette interjected before he could retort. She pushed the group behind the counter and up the stairs leading to her actual house. They all threw their bags down next to the couch as they entered and whilst Alya and Nino set up the system Adrien followed Marinette to get snacks and drinks from the kitchen. During the morning they'd barely looked at each other, still nervous and uncertain after yesterdays events but during their lessons whenever he was certain the teacher wasn't looking, Adrien would look straight behind him at Marinette - craning his neck in ungodly ways - and pull stupid faces just to try to get her to laugh again. It had immediately worked but a little too well when she snorted out a laugh, unable to hold it in any longer and got herself in trouble. She hadn't wanted to snitch on Adrien (who had managed to return looking at the front just in time) as the true culprit so instead she proceeded to annoy him as much she could, flicking little paper balls at him and she'd even managed to poke him in the back of his neck with a pencil at one point. Thanks to their behaviour they'd earned curious looks from the rest of the class. Fortunately Chloe had taken the day off to appear at one of her father's events allowing the two to avoid any confrontation with her, a welcome break since she had been grouchier than ever recently due to Adrien choosing to hang out with Nino and the gang rather than her. Marinette had obviously been at the front of the attacks though luckily she could handle it by herself.

With all the preparations done the group jumped onto the couch with the snacks dumped on the small coffee table in front of them. The TV screen burst to life displaying the logo for Ultimate Mecha Strike III and Alya passed over one of two controllers to Marinette. “So are we doing a tournament?” she asked, thoroughly ready to demolish her first opponent.

“Not quite,” the best friend smirked as she replied, “We're doing teams.” Adrien and Marinette gave her a curious look as Nino began chuckling behind the glasses wearing girl. “Nino and I versus you and Adrien. Our team name is DjWifi and yours can be Adrinette. Each team has one controller and each person gets half the controls,” she continued to explain, “Nino, I'll control the movement and you shoot.” The bespectacled boy gave quick confirmation.

“Okay so I direct and you shoot,” Adrien said as he made grabby motions for the controller, the words naggingly familiar in his mind.

“And why not the other way around?” Marinette countered before recognising what she had just said. They stared at each other for a brief second before Alya asked if they were ready or not leaving them to push away the nagging thoughts. Within seconds of starting up the game team DjWifi totally crushed team Adrinette. Marinette slowly turned her head towards Adrien, her normally serene eyes turned into a furious storm as her perfect record was beaten.

“Okay so you direct and I'll shoot,” he said quickly, moving to sit on her other side to get to his new controls. Again that nagging familiarity lingered in the back of their minds but both dismissed the thoughts.

An hour or so later after team Adrinette had been dominating team DjWifi Alya had pulled out Marinette's vintage instant camera to commemorate their afternoon festivities. The photos were now sprawled out the table replacing the already eaten snacks. They all chose a few to keep for theirselves with each of them picking a group selfie they had taken. Marinette had also gotten Nino and Alya to sign their names on some pieces of paper, claiming it was for a project she was working on. “Since we're on the topic of photos...” Adrien mumbled walking over to his bag and rummaging around for something. A few moments later he came back presenting a manila folder to Marinette who merely cocked her eyebrows and gave him a questioning look. “From yesterday,” he muttered as he avoided her gaze, “the deadline got pushed forward so they worked through the night. The crew wanted you to have these as payment.” He saw her nod out of the corner of his eye and her cheeks flushed slightly as she took the folder. Nino and Alya were immediately on her, trying to get a glimpse at a certain picture they'd both been informed about the previous night. Marinette sighed as she gave the photos up to them. “Well uh, I have to go now so I'll see you guys tomorrow,” Adrien announced as he tucked his new photos into one of his bags inner pockets. He slung it over his shoulder and gave them a quick wave before Nino shot up and declared he'd leave too since he had a new mix he wanted to work on. The two boys left together leaving the girls alone with the obvious topic looming in the air.

“You know all the picture he just took with him had you in them,” Alya spoke, flicking through the pictures from the shoot. The other girl just shook her head, trying to push the topic away as she began cleaning up discarded wrappers that had collected in the corner of the couch. She worked her way around the room, cleaning up every last bit of mess they'd made; sorting out the couch cushions, picking up stray wrappers and clearing up the cups they used. Marinette could hear Alya chatter about the photos from the shoot, pointing out the looks on Adrien's face as he watched Marinette, the way he was so gentle with her but most importantly, how their last picture had been more intimate than just friends. The raven hair girl let a small sigh escape. Her mind a swirling mixture of emotions of hopefulness, uncertainty but mostly just confusion. All because of one stupid boy with his stupid golden hair and his stupid dazzling eyes and his stupid puns. Her mind swept briefly to another boy who fit that particular description, then to the earlier conversation. She was sure those had been the exact words spoken between Paris' superheroes. Even so, Marinette banished the thought from her mind, striking it off purely as coincidence. Satisfied with the state of the room, she picked up some of the new photos and the autographs from her friends and made her way upstairs, Alya following closely behind not ready to drop the subject.

In her room, Marinette made her way over to her desk, carefully taking the photo frame off the wall and sliding the two new names into it. She returned it to its place with delicate fingers and took a moment to admire it. The girl completely ignored Alya remarks about how dorky the wall was as Marinette pinned some of the photos from that day up. She took a step back to admire her work, to admire the friendships she'd built. Alya stood beside her, taking in the collage of photos as well before smirking at her best friend. She took one last look at the picture in her hand before tucking into the corner of the photo frame, along with three others in the remaining corners. The two girls took in the photos. Closest to Alya's name was the very first selfie the two had ever taken together, the two of them stood in front of the school on the day they first became friends, both beamed at the camera pleased with their new-found friendship. Opposite to that was a picture Alya had taken earlier that day of Marinette and Nino, the two of them facing each other trying to throw gummy bears into the other's mouth; that particular shot was taken just as one of the bears hit Marinette right on her nose, her mouth formed a small 'o' shape with Nino laughing directly opposite her on the couch. Below was a group selfie the four of them had taken not too long ago at an outing to the park across from Marinette's home. That day they had all brought random toys along to the park after finding out how little time Adrien had got to play outside as a child and do seemingly stupid things like chase bubbles or point out the shapes of clouds. Alya had taken the selfie. Marinette and Adrien were in the centre being pushed together by their best friends claiming that they all needed to be closer to fit into the shot. Nino and Alya were chuckling in the photo as Marinette smiled shyly at the camera and Adrien had the biggest grin she'd ever seen anyone pull. Lastly was the picture from the shoot. The almost kiss. Now that she finally had a chance to, Marinette took in the picture and how _intimate_ it really looked. They looked like a _real couple_. The small smiles as their lips were so close to touching, the way Adrien so delicately held her close to him and how she clung to his shirt, pulling him as close she could. Her face flushed as she remembered the tingle of his warm breath on her skin. She turned away from the images and flopped onto her chaise lounge burying her face into the pillow. Alya giggled as she watched her best friend before giving the girl one last piece of advice.

“Maybe you should try to be more than friends.”

* * *

 

"So dude, you finally ready to talk about that raging crush you have on Mari?"  
Adrien almost completely spat his coffee out but somehow the universe had allowed this moment to be one where he did not make a complete and utter fool of himself. No, the universe would save that for a much funnier opportunity. The blonde boy stared at his best friend wide-eyed. What was he thinking? Adrien didn't have a crush on Marinette, they were _just friends_! She was just a compassionate and amazing girl who happened to grace his life and bring the warmth of a thousand suns into his life yet still remained to be as serene and beautiful as the moon and her laugh was just the most heavenly sound he'd ever heard and those eyes were just so-  
_Oh_.  
His mind reeled at his epiphany. He looked up from the cup he'd been staring into taking in the look his best friend was giving him. Adrien hadn't been monologuing in his head. In an act of defeat his head slumped down onto the table as a small groan escaped his lips. Nino let out a small chuckle and softly patted the boy on his back. "Hey look, don't worry about it," Nino smiled as the blonde glimpsed up at him, "Mari's great, you should totally ask her out."  
"But Nino I..." Adrien struggled for words. This new-found information confused his poor heart. He'd been so sure of his feelings for Ladybug but suddenly Marinette had swept into his life as a permanent presence, not a simple classmate who he only exchanged words with on occasion but a real actual friend. Who he had feelings for. _Romantic_ feelings for. He thought hard about the two girls in his life. The completely out of reach super heroine who had rebuffed every attempt he'd made to deepen their relationship to something more than crime fighting partners and friends. Then there was Marinette. The amazing girl who sat behind him in class and would go red when they were close together or when he attempted to flirt with her and had pulled him to kiss him. His face flushed. "Do you... think maybe it's possible that she uh, likes me back?" Adrien asked timidly, scratching the back of his neck. It took all of Nino's willpower to not shout out ' _No shit Sherlock_ ' in front of the whole café. Instead he opted for a simple cryptic 'maybe', taking guilty pleasure in seeing his best bro squirm under the possible information.  
"You'll never know unless you try bro," Nino gave one last smirk as Adrien cradled his head in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I'm sorry this update took much longer than the others considering all the chapters are relatively the same sizes. School started again this week and I had mock exams thrown at me which left me in a very bad position for a while but all is good for now!  
> Anyway here's some plot stuff but we get to the good part in the next chapter which hopefully shouldn't be postponed too much ≖‿≖


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